8
Help People to Exhale Emotionally and Mentally
Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.
—ETTY HILLESUM, IN HER POSTHUMOUSLY PUBLISHED DIARY, ETTY
“Shh! Listen!” I said firmly to Alex, the stressed-out forty-something executive who’d been venting nonstop for 15 minutes about all the things he had to do and all the deadlines facing him and on and on.
He was startled, “Listen to what?”
“Listen to the quiet,” I replied.
“The what?” he responded.
“To the quiet,” I continued. “It’s located between the noise in your head and the noise in your life, and right now it’s screaming out to me and you to be heard.”
“Huh?” he said, still confused.
“Close your eyes,” I instructed, “and breathe slowly ...
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